Proceeding Word
Art
Nelson
We all know
and understand that there is a maturing process in the Lord. In the Scriptures
John describes three stages to this process: children, young men, and fathers.
In each of these stages there are specific things that we have to learn in order
to grow up and fulfill our calling in God.
The first
two verses of Hebrews chapter six gives us six elementary principles of Christ;
six foundation stones which we lay in our lives and then continue on to
maturity. But the key to doing this is in the third verse.
Hebrews 6:3 NASB
(3)
And this we will do, if God permits.
We forget that our
maturing process is directed and controlled by God. We supply the motivation but
He supplies the revelation. If there are big holes in our foundation, He does
not permit us to move on. Our Heavenly Father does not allow anyone into His
Business that He doesn't think is ready; that is, anyone that doesn't have a
father's heart and a renewed mind.
We are being
prepared to participate in the purposes of God—the fulfilling of His plans and
promises. When we have been prepared in some areas, the Lord will give us a
proceeding word that will bring us into a place of practicing that which we
have been prepared to do.
A proceeding
word is only received when God permits us to go on. A proceeding word takes us
into our destiny, our calling. It also takes us into tribulation, trials,
opposition, enemy resistance and frustration. We must have been prepared
beforehand to handle these things or we will have a tendency to become
discouraged and let our calling fall away. This is dangerous territory, which is
why the next few verses of Hebrews six warn us about the seriousness of it.
Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB
(4) For in
the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly
gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
(5) and
have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
(6)
and then
have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they
again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
If a person who has
matured in the areas listed falls away (this is a willful turning away from the
Lord) it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
This is why God doesn't necessarily permit people to go on into the deeper
things of God. It is dangerous to the immature and the unprepared.
A proceeding word is a particular
type of “rhema” word, that is, a “quickened”, fresh spoken word from the Holy
Spirit. We receive “rhema” words as the Lord brings revelation of the meaning
and application of the written, recorded word to us and our circumstances. As we
grow up in the Lord, we receive many “rhema” words from the Holy Spirit applying
the Lord's teaching to our lives—making the word flesh in us as it was in Jesus.
However, there comes a day when we
begin to come into the responsibilities of sonship. We have grown up in the
family of believers but it is now time to “get a job”, to be “employed” in the
Kingdom of God, to begin to fulfill our calling by doing the works prepared for
us from the foundation of the world. This is when the Holy Spirit brings to us a
proceeding word that takes us into our work in the Kingdom.
There are three primary
characteristics of a proceeding word:
-
it is
always
deposited in us
before it is confirmed by others;
-
it is
always
directional in its scope and
nature;
-
it is
always
dependent upon the power of
the Lord for it to be done.
The result is that it always moves you toward the
fulfillment of your destiny in the Lord.
A proceeding
word comes as our preparation process reaches a point where we can be trusted by
God to be obedient to His word and walk in the power of the Spirit. Our
character has made progress toward becoming more like Jesus and we are able to
be used by the Lord without becoming lifted up in pride.
The Scriptures make it clear that
Moses had within him a sense of His purpose and calling—that he was to be a
deliverer of the people of God from the oppression of Egypt. Remember, Moses was
not a heathen. He was one of the people of God even though he had been raised in
Pharaoh's court.
Acts 7:22-25 NASB
(22)
"Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a
man of power in
words and deeds.
(23)
"But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his
brethren, the sons of Israel.
(24)
"And when he saw one
of them
being treated unjustly, he defended him
and took vengeance for the
oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.
(25)
"And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them
deliverance through him, but they did not understand.
Moses' real
problems started when he tried to enter into his destiny by his natural
understanding and the arm of the flesh. He acted on what had been deposited in
his heart by God; but his actions arose from his natural strength and not by the
direction and power of God. He also supposed that others of the people of God
would understand his calling and destiny. Of course, they didn't understand. You
cannot fulfill your God given destiny through the flesh.
When Moses
attempted to fulfill his calling without a proceeding word from God, it created
a set of circumstances that forced Moses to flee. He then entered into a forty
year preparation time herding sheep on the backside of the desert. (Notice that
his Egyptian education, the finest that the world had to offer, did not prepare
him to enter into his calling.)
Moses, in the
timing of God, received his proceeding word at the burning bush. (Note: the NASB
puts quotes from the Old Testament in all caps in the New Testament.)
Acts 7:30-35 NASB
(30)
"After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF
MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH.
(31)
"When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look
more
closely, there came the voice of the Lord:
(32)
'I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.' Moses
shook with fear and would not venture to look.
(33)
"BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, 'TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE
ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.
(34)
'I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE IN EGYPT AND HAVE HEARD THEIR
GROANS, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM;
COME NOW, AND I WILL SEND YOU
TO EGYPT.'
(35)
"This Moses whom they disowned, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A
JUDGE?' is the one whom God sent
to be
both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in
the thorn bush.
Moses was going
about his normal daily routine when he saw a bush burning that did not burn up,
so he turned aside to see what was happening, which set the stage for God to
speak to him and give him a proceeding word. God works with us the same way.
When we are prepared properly, He will interrupt our routine with something that
draws our attention and then He will speak our proceeding word and we will enter
into our destiny.
After receiving the proceeding
word, Moses got his affairs in order with Jethro, his father-in-law and began
the journey to Egypt in obedience to God. On the way, the Lord stopped him.
Exodus 4:24 NASB
(24)
Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and
sought to put him to death.
This Scripture says
that the Lord sought to kill Moses. (Of course, He didn't try very hard or Moses
would have been dead!) Now, this is a serious thing since Moses was only moving
forward in obedience according to the proceeding word that God had given him.
What had happened?
Even though Moses
had been personally prepared for his calling, he had not fully prepared his
family. He had not been fully obedient to the commands of God as they relate to
his son.
Exodus 4:25-26 NASB
(25)
Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses'
feet, and she said, "You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me."
(26)
So He let him alone. At that time she said, "You
are
a bridegroom of blood"--because of the circumcision.
A proceeding word
does not excuse us from the requirements of the covenant of God: circumcision of
the flesh for Moses' son and circumcision of the heart for us. The Lord will not
allow us to complete our destiny even after He gives us a proceeding word if we
are neglecting the prerequisites of the covenant.
Once a proceeding
word is in place, it is in place until it is accomplished. We can see this also
in Moses' mission. After leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses
begins to take them toward the promised land by the standard caravan route.
However God stops him and tells him to turn back and take them in a different
direction in order to set up Pharaoh and his army for destruction.
Exodus 14:1-4 NASB
(1)
Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
(2)
"Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between
Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the
sea.
(3)
"For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in
the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'
(4)
"Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be
honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am
the LORD." And they did so.
So, the children of
Israel are positioned by the Lord with the Red Sea in front, the wilderness
behind and Pharaoh and his army coming at them. The people were afraid and cried
out to Moses and blamed him for their predicament. However, it is the Lord's
response to Moses that is of particular interest to us.
Exodus 14:15-16
NASB
(15)
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of
Israel to go forward.
(16)
"As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and
divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry
land.
The proceeding word
that Moses had received involved the deliverance of the children of Israel from
Egypt but it also involved them entering the land that God had promised them.
Just because they were now in what appeared to be dire circumstances did not
mean that God had changed His word. There was no “plan B”. It did not matter
that there was a sea between them and the fulfillment of the proceeding word.
God chided Moses
for crying out to Him. It appears that Moses should have realized that the sea
did not matter only that they proceed with what God had said. It is the same
with us. Once we have taken action according to the proceeding word, nothing
will prevent the complete accomplishment of all that is contained in that word.
In all circumstances, God will orchestrate events to accomplish His purpose and
to bring glory to His name. We have to exercise faith and the authority that is
in inherent in the proceeding word and not be distracted when we hear the
thundering hoof beats of the world's army.
I have said all of
the above as background for what I am about to say, which is what I believe the
Lord is about to do.
There are a number
of people that have been hidden by God on the backside of a desert just like
Moses. These are people with a destiny in God, a powerful call of the Lord, who
are being prepared to receive a proceeding word. The time is upon us. I believe
that the Lord is about to bring to us clear proceeding words that relate to His
purposes for the end times. Get ready to move into your destiny.
I don't mean that
this is something you will hear from some pompous prophet who blows into town
for a few days and prophesies a bunch of feel good words over everybody. The
call of God, your destiny, is already in you. The Holy Spirit is about to anoint
it and release it for fulfillment. Others will only confirm what you already
know in your heart to be your purpose.
Look for the
unusual thing as you go about your routine and don't pass by your burning bush
without noticing it. You will only receive your proceeding word when you turn
aside from your normal day to day affairs in order to hear the Lord. And for
your own sake, don't frustrate the call of God by neglecting any covenant
prerequisites for you and your family.
In the fullness of
time that is approaching, God is bringing forth a manifestation of the sons of
God who will proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom. I believe that our proceeding
words will fit into the context of that. Some will move forth speaking words of
repentance, others words of judgment, others will demonstrate the power of God,
others will present the Holiness and Righteousness of the Lord, and still others
will speak revelation and understanding of end time scriptures and events. All
of these words collectively will reveal the King and His righteous rule,
established on the Throne by the Father so that He might head up all things and
sum them up in Himself.
Amen and amen.
[There
is an expanded version of this proceeding word topic available in the Lifestream
teaching area titled “Released
for Ministry” . I didn't want to make this Teaching Letter too long. The
Teaching Lesson format contains the examples of Nehemiah and Paul and includes
pitfalls that we need to aware of as we receive our own proceeding words.—Art]
©
2003-2008 by Art Nelson and
Lifestream
Teaching Ministries
Previous
issues of Present Truth are on the website:
www.Lifestreamteaching.com
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Nelson at this address:
artnelson@lifestreamteaching.com
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